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Young man with liver failure

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Posted 5/3/2013 8:11 PM (GMT 0)
My 27 year old son was taken to emergency room with yellow skin- eyes - severely jaundiced. He was admitted and spent the last week in ICU. He has liver failure as a result of heavy drinking. Alcohol induced hepatitis. Bilirubin was 36 upon admission and has gone up and down by a few point every day with no downward trend. Yesterday at 40 today 42...but has stayed in that stratospheric range. INR has been dropping and currently at 1.3 Sodium good and platelet count almost normal. Docs moved him to regular room this afternoon. Liver doc has been more optimistic than most...that he will probably get a second chance providing he never drinks again. But his partner today was a bit more pessimistic saying that they have done all they can and only time will tell. This is a great kid with so much to give...Rehab is all set and he is committed but obviously we are all scared. Any advice is certainly appreciated.
Posted 5/3/2013 8:37 PM (GMT 0)
Mmpchief.. Welcome to the forum.... I am so sorry to hear about your son's trouble. The first thing you need to do is take a breath. He's alive and yes his life hangs on his sobriety. His liver can regain functioning. Only time will tell how much. He has to want sobriety and no matter what you do, it has to be his choice. Read our threads.. We have members who have come back from the brink. They are the exception. We also have many people who have not. Of course there are different reasons for liver failure.

Read the information up above and read our threads. Show your son our forum. There is hope but your son has to grab it.

Sandia

Post Edited (arneeb) : 5/3/2013 2:40:38 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/3/2013 9:53 PM (GMT 0)
MMPchief, I just wanted to welcome you and suggest you check out the info in the folder at the top of the page entitled Hepatitis Resources. There is a lot of good information in there, particularly about alcoholic liver disease.

Hugs,
Connie
Posted 5/3/2013 10:48 PM (GMT 0)
You will get lots of good advice and support here.

Just for your reference it takes a while for bilirubin to return to normal if things start improving. On Jan. 4th my bili was 32, 3 weeks ago I was finally below 2.0. It does not happen overnight.

I wish your son the best hope to hear of improvement.
Posted 5/4/2013 2:17 AM (GMT 0)
 Mmchief , I'm a bit older than your son and was diagnosed in 2008 with end stage liver disease due to alcohol abuse . As others have mentioned it's entirely possible for him to live a normal life with a little liver damage as long as he takes care of himself . No alcohol and watching what he eats is a must . Reading labels on food and medications are important . Learning to avoid high sodium content food and staying away from medications that can further damage his liver .

 Depending solely on doctors or a treatment program to bring him out of this situation can be a big mistake particularly where his alcoholism is concerned . He will have to change his lifestyle and only he can do that . Should you need any further info feel free to ask . We have a lot of good folks that have seen practically every scenario where this disease is concerned .

Ziff

Posted 5/4/2013 8:32 PM (GMT 0)
MmC,

I feel so badly for you and your son.  A 27 year old is but a big boy...to his mother!

I too have a son who has chosen a destructive path. Drugs in his case. And he has been in and out of trouble since high school (37 years old now).  At this point he has been such a heavy user he appears to be brain damaged.  Damaged. And he has wrecked so many cars that he has a bad back and isn't the strong man he once was.

I actually wish he was in jail or rehab somewhere...give his brain some chance to mend and give him TIME sober enough to evaluate his options to make some better decisions.

It is long past time I can do anything about this. I won't take him in, I've done that before and isn't helpful for either of us.  He needs to DO whatever it is for himself...make the change, get straight and stay straight.  He's lost a beautiful wife and daughter.  My handsome boy-man is all messed up.

Some do decide to change and some don't. He is a smart man, the smartest of my kids. And he had lots of advantages growing up...had sort of a normal life.

But none of this means I don't ache for him, wish it could be different, love him to pieces.  You must be heartbroken to see him so sick. Liver disease is AWFUL.

Hugs,

Mama Lama

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